Parents Sue Catholic School for Defamation Over Principal’s Letter About Their Daughter

A Catholic school principal wrote a letter to the parents of eighth-graders about a student not returning to their school, and she asked them to pray for the child.

Naming the student in the letter, it turns out, was also asking for trouble.

The student’s parents have filed a $750,000 defamation lawsuit against Mary Queen of Angels Regional Catholic School in Cheektowaga and the principal, saying the letter led to “a scandalous smear campaign carried out by the eighth-grade parents.”

The student, who attended the school until Dec. 2, 2011, has unspecified medical issues that “occasioned certain behavior at school,” according to the State Supreme Court lawsuit.